Biography

Dr. Ziya Gokaslan is a professor of neurological surgery, orthopaedic surgery and oncology at the Johns Hopkins School of Medicine. His clinical practice focuses on the surgical treatment of primary and metastatic spinal tumors, sacral neoplasms and spinal cord tumors. He developed many novel approaches for resection of pancoast tumors, spinal neoplasms and sacral tumors.

Dr. Gokaslan is the Donlin M. Long Professor of Neurosurgery, the director of the Neurosurgical Spine Center and the vice-chairman of neurosurgery at the Johns Hopkins School of Medicine.

He received his medical degree from the University of Istanbul in Turkey. He completed an internship in general surgery, a fellowship in neurotraumatology and a residency in neurological surgery at the Baylor College of Medicine. He went on to complete a fellowship in clinical spinal surgery in the Department of Orthopedics and Neurosurgery at the New York University Medical Center.

Prior to joining Johns Hopkins, Dr. Gokaslan was the director of the Neurosurgical Spinal Oncology Section and the Deputy Chairman of the Department of Neurosurgery at MD Anderson Cancer Center. He joined the Johns Hopkins faculty in 2002.

Dr. Gokaslan’s research uses animal models to develop local chemotherapeutic delivery systems for primary and metastatic spinal tumors. In addition, he oversees clinical trials assessing the efficacy of surgery and spinal reconstruction for spinal column tumors.

Dr. Gokaslan has authored over 250 peer-reviewed papers and has presented over 200 national and international lectures. He was voted one of the “Best Doctors in America” since 2005 and garnered Baltimore magazine’s Top Doctors recognition since 2007. He serves on the editorial boards of top academic journals, is the past president of AANS/CNS Section on the Disorders of the Spine and Peripheral Nerve and is a member of numerous prestigious societies, notably the Society of Neurological Surgeons, the Cervical Spine Research Society, the American Society of Clinical Oncology, the American Association of Neurological Surgeons, the Congress of Neurological Surgeons and the North American Spine Society.

Certifications

Research Summary

Dr Gokaslan’s research currently involves the use of animal models to develop local chemotherapeutic delivery systems for primary and metastatic spinal tumors. In addition, Dr Gokaslan oversees clinical trials assessing the efficacy of surgery and spinal reconstruction for primary and metastatic spinal column tumors.